Monica Wehby, who is looking to unseat
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, on Tuesday released a television ad
highlighting her support for gay marriage.

According to POLITICO.com, Wehby is the
first Republican Senate candidate to run a statewide ad endorsing
marriage equality.

“My opponent keeps trying to paint me
as an extreme right-wing Republican, and that's actually not who I
am,” she told POLITICO.com.
“I'm a very independent-minded person, like our state. I've
always felt government should stay out of it. This isn't a change in
thought for me at all.”

“Marrying my husband was the happiest
day of my life,” West says in the ad over photos from the couple's
wedding. “I was proud of Oregon and our country. But there's a
lot of work left to do. Whether it's standing up for equality or for
the unemployed or for the next generation, we need leaders who have
the courage to do what's right. That's why I support Monica Wehby.
I know she'll fight for every Oregon family, including mine.”

Wehby, who trails Merkley in the polls,
described the Republican Party as “a big tent party.”

“It's important that we are very
tolerant of differences within our own group. We don't all have to
agree 100 percent of the time,” she told POLITICO.com.